The City of Palm Coast was honored with the 2025 Florida Planning and Zoning Association’s Outstanding Public Outreach & Community Involvement Award for its exceptional public engagement efforts during the Imagine 2050 Comprehensive Plan update. The award was presented on Friday during the 72nd Annual FPZA Conference at the Casa Monica Hotel & Spa in St. Augustine.
Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston, Director of Communications & Marketing Brittany Kershaw, Deputy Director of Community Development Ray Tyner, Senior Planner Jose Papa, and Planners Estelle Lens and Michael Hanson accepted the award on behalf of the City. They were joined by JB Pro consultants Kathie Ebaugh and Nick Hill.
Earlier in the week, Tyner and Kershaw, alongside consultant partners from JBPro, hosted a featured 90-minute session at the conference titled Balancing Growth through Community Voices. The session offered a detailed roadmap of Palm Coast’s engagement strategy, guiding attendees through the innovative and extensive process that earned statewide recognition.
Imagine 2050: City on the Rise is Palm Coast’s visionary update to its Comprehensive Plan, designed to capture the voice of a growing community. Since the last major update in 2010, the city’s population has grown by 28%, prompting the need for a strategic, community-centered approach to future development. Through a wide-reaching engagement strategy—including pop-up events, civic group meetings, student outreach, a dedicated interactive project website, social media campaigns, and more—the City reached nearly 82,000 residents.
Palm Coast’s outreach strategy was noted for its adaptability and effectiveness in gathering actionable feedback. The result was a set of clearly defined Vision and Guiding Principles, shaping new goals, objectives, and policies—along with specific updates to address economic development, future expansion, and property rights.
Imagine 2050 reflects the community’s values and priorities and sets a new standard for public involvement in city planning across Florida.
To learn more about the Imagine 2050 Comprehensive Plan, visit www.palmcoast.gov/Imagine2050. The plan was adopted by City Council exactly one month ago, on May 6, 2025.
HayRide says
Guess the folks that awarded it have not been here and see how angry the residents are about the development, planning, zoning, and re-zoning for financial gain
JimboXYZ says
Amazing, awarding Alfin’s “Imagine 2050” that morphed from “Vision of 2050” for gridlock, environmental destruction & grossly underfunded projects for 3.5-4+ years for $ 1/2 billion in STF debt alone for higher utility bills. Oh well, at least the pdf brochures & powerpoints are top notch presentations ? This is like giving Fauci a million dollar award for vaccines he had nothing to do with in 2020 ? With the higher utility rates, each & everyone of deserve at least honorable mention for footing the bill for growth 2021-present. No awards, just higher utilities bills for the rest of us ? There’s nothing “outstanding” about the economic impact of the extortion to create an award here for any presentation materials. The council was going to bend the masses over financially, regardless of the opposition to growth.